Featured on The Henry Ford's Innovation Nation: Season 6

White Treadle Sewing Machine, 1885-1890

Sewing machine (Equipment)

Sewing machines made sewing much faster---creating consistent, even stiches better than could be done by hand. Most clothing was still made at home during the late 19th century--sewing machines made this task easier. In the 1880s, the White Sewing Machine Company manufactured about 60,000 sewing machines annually--and its machines won awards both in America and abroad.

1923 Star Station Wagon

Automobile

Billy Durant, ousted from General Motors for a second time, established Durant Motors in 1921. Durant's Star challenged Ford's Model T in the low-price field, and it was the first significant American automobile offered in a factory-built station wagon version. While the Star itself was a hit, Durant stretched his finances too thin and Durant Motors ended operations in 1932.

Tripp Sawmill

Sawmill (Factory)

Small sawmills played a fundamental role in rural communities in nineteenth century America, processing locally-logged wood to provide sawn lumber for construction in the immediate area. While many such mills were water powered, this was steam-powered from the outset. It was simple but refined -- a modest, self-sufficient industrial operation (water and fuel was available onsite), comfortably wedded to its rural location.

Votrax Model 100, Type 'N Talk Text to Speech Synthesizer, 1981

Synthesizer

This text-to-speech synthesizer recreates the sounds of the human voice. Inventor Richard T. Gagnon created the Votrax to support his own failing vision. It could be used by the blind as a computer screen reader, or a speaking device for people with vocal cord paralysis. The Votrax shaped individual units of speech, allowing unlimited range and smoothness capable of conveying emotion.

Favrile Bowl, 1916

Bowl (Vessel)

Art Glass is ornamental and decorative glass dating from the mid-to-late 19th century through the early 20th century. Makers of Art Glass employed newly developed technologies for producing vibrant colors and surface textures. This is most famously seen in the iridescent surfaces of Louis Comfort Tiffany and his contemporaries, although Art Glass took many shapes and forms.

1916 Woods Dual-Power Hybrid Coupe

Automobile

In 1916, gasoline was cheap, and no one cared about tailpipe emissions. But this hybrid wasn't about fuel prices or pollution. Woods Motor Vehicle Company built it to capture new customers. Sales of the company's electric cars were falling as more people chose gasoline-burning cars. The Dual-Power supposedly combined the best of both, but customers disagreed. The car and the company disappeared in 1918.

Vine Quilt by Susan McCord, 1880-1890

Quilt

Indiana farmwife Susan McCord made this stunningly beautiful quilt -- indisputably her masterpiece. This trailing vine design is a McCord original. McCord pieced together printed and solid cotton fabric scraps to create the over 300 leaves on each of the thirteen vine panels. McCord used variations of this vine in the borders of several quilts. But McCord's vine design is rendered to perfection in this work of genius.

Amberina Vase, 1883-1890

Vase

Art Glass is ornamental and decorative glass dating from the mid-to-late 19th century through the early 20th century. Makers of Art Glass employed newly developed technologies for producing vibrant colors and surface textures. This is most famously seen in the iridescent surfaces of Louis Comfort Tiffany and his contemporaries, although Art Glass took many shapes and forms.

1865 Roper Steam Carriage

Automobile

This vehicle is the oldest surviving American automobile. In the 1860s, a small steam carriage running under its own power -- without horses! -- was so startling that people paid to see it driven. It was a curiosity, not transportation. By the time its inventor, Sylvester Roper, died in 1896, new innovators were transforming horseless carriages from curiosities into practical vehicles.

J.R. Jones General Store

General store

James R. Jones was one of nine different proprietors who operated a general merchandise store in this building between 1857 and 1927. From 1882 to 1888, Jones sold products like coffee, sugar, fabric, and shoes. He also boasted the first telephone in town. General stores were organized shopping spaces. Long shelves with groupings of similar products lined each side.

Hoover Vacuum Cleaner, circa 1910

Vacuum cleaner

The Hoover Model O, introduced in 1908, was the first commercially successful portable vacuum. At 40 pounds, it was less than half the weight of other "portable" cleaners. With its motor and fan, rotary brush, and bag that captured dust, the electrically-powered--and expensive--Hoover vacuum removed dirt and dust much better than the carpet beaters or mechanical carpet sweepers used by many people at the time.

2002 Toyota Prius Sedan

Automobile

Hybrid automobiles improve fuel efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions compared to standard internal combustion-powered cars. Hybrids use small internal combustion engines and battery-powered electric motors. Powerful computers and sophisticated software coordinate the smooth, seamless transfer of power between the two units. This Prius is one of Toyota's first-generation hybrids, introduced in the United States in 2000.

"Astonishing Tales" (Guardians of the Galaxy) Comic Book for April 1975

Comic book

Since the early 1960s, Marvel comic book superheroes have appealed to readers because of their relatable personalities, human flaws, and real-life problems. This Astonishing Tales comic book, featuring Guardians of the Galaxy, is a reprint of the supergroup's original appearance in 1969. This evil-fighting team of aliens and renegades was reincarnated later in a series of highly popular movies.

George Washington Carver Cabin

Cabin (House)

Henry Ford built this cabin in 1942 to honor his friend, agricultural scientist George Washington Carver. The cabin was based on Carver's recollections of the slave cabin in Missouri in which he was born in 1864. Carver spent his career at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, advocating for new crops, such as peanuts, that would enrich both Southern farmers and Southern soils.

Black & Decker "Dustbuster" Handheld Vacuum, circa 1979

Handheld vacuum

The Dustbuster handheld vacuum, introduced in 1979, found immediate success--selling over a million the first year. Inexpensive, lightweight, and convenient, it was designed for quick cleanups of surface dirt and spills. Cordless, with a wall-mounted charger base, the Dustbuster could be used anywhere! Though it wasn't very powerful, convenience triumphed. For small jobs, it was much easier to grab the Dustbuster!

Ford "Mode: Flex" Functional Bicycle Prototype, 2015

Bicycle

Automakers increasingly considered themselves "mobility providers" in the 2010s. Ford Motor Company's MoDe:Flex bicycle prototype was born of that thinking. The power-assisted bike operated via an Apple iPhone app that controlled the electric motor, monitored the rider's speed and heart rate, and provided navigation assistance and traffic updates. When disassembled, the bike fit neatly into the trunk of a compact car.

Highland Park Plant Engine- Generator, 1915-1916

Engine (Power producing equipment)

Ford's Model T mass production system would not have been practical without electricity; by 1919 nine of these Ford-designed hybrid internal combustion/steam engines generated the power needed by the Highland Park plant's assembly lines and associated machinery. By 1926 the engines were rendered obsolete when electricity was fed from the power plant at Ford's River Rouge plant ten miles away.

Mattox Family Home

House

Amos and Grace Mattox -- descended from enslaved African Americans -- raised their two children in this rural Georgia farmhouse during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Amos farmed, cut hair, made shoes, and preached at the local church, while Grace sewed, canned, cooked, and helped needy neighbors. Although life was hard, the family proudly affirmed that there was "always enough."

Zenith "My Radio" Pendant Transistor Radio, circa 1970

Transistor radio

The size of radios shrank following the advent of transistor technology. Even the smallest vacuum tubes were bulky, and their power consumption ensured the need for large batteries. Transistor radios made of lightweight plastics were cheap and truly portable. With the addition of an earphone a radio such as this allowed the listener to enjoy a completely personal listening experience.

Firestone Chicken Shed

Chicken house

This is a replica of the Firestones' chicken house in Ohio. Chickens spend their days in the farmyard, foraging for seeds and bugs for food. They spend their nights on their roosts in the chicken house, which provides warmth, protection from predators, and keeps the eggs in one place, making them easier to gather.

1924 Railroad Refrigerator Car, Used by Fruit Growers Express

Refrigerator car

Modern refrigerated rail cars have mechanical cooling units, but well into the 20th century, ice cooled refrigerator cars like this one. Since 45-55 pounds of ice melted each hour, icing stations had to be located at regular intervals along the route, and adherence to strict schedules was necessary to prevent spoilage. The ability to ship meats and produce in refrigerator cars, far from their points of origin, greatly expanded both farmers'...

Firestone Barn

Barn

The Firestone barn is a Pennsylvania-German bank barn, an American barn type with Swiss origins. They are called bank barns because the barn is built into a bank, allowing wagons to be driven into the upper floor. Bank barns combined multiple farm functions under a single roof. Livestock were kept in the lower floor, crops on the upper floor.

Ingersoll Milling Machine Used at Ford Motor Company Highland Park Plant, 1912

Milling machine

The Model T's distinction as a landmark car design can be traced in large part to machines like this -- a high capacity precision machine tool that performed just two production steps on the car engine's cylinder block. The Model T as a design achievement is inseparable from many hundreds of engineering, materials, and production innovations.

Creative Technology "Creative Nomad Jukebox," 2000

Digital music player

Pottery Shop

Building (Structure)

The Pottery Shop was designed in 1939 by Edward L. Cutler, an architect who helped Henry Ford create his historic village. Designed as a reproduction rice mill to house 19th-century threshing machinery from a South Carolina plantation, the building was repurposed as the Pottery Shop in 1984. Today, visitors view demonstrations of hand-made pottery including salt-glaze and slip wares.

Xerox "Kurzweil Reading Edge Optical Recognition Speech Synthesizer," 1992

Scanner

This assistive technology device was created for people who are blind or with visual impairments. Using text-to-speech synthesizer technology and optical character recognition, it can scan text from any kind of printed material and then read it out loud. This includes books, magazines, mail--even food packaging. Reading speed is adjustable and its memory can store 100 pages of text.